Countless amazing home cooks have come through MasterChef Australia‘s doors, but whether they won or were booted out, we’ll always remember our favourite contestants.
The show’s contestants are so beloved by the Aussie public that the 2022 season, aptly named Foodies Vs Favourites, saw a bunch of familiar faces return to the MasterChef kitchen.
So we’re taking a look back at some of our favourite MasterChef Australia contestants over the 14 years and nearly 1,000 episodes the show has been running.
Julie Goodwin
Obviously, Julie Goodwin finds herself on the list and rightly so, first.
The mum-of-three was the first person to be crowned winner of MasterChef Australia back in 2009.
She beat out fellow celebrity chef Poh Ling-Yeow in the finale and went on to host television and radio shows and has written four cookbooks.
She was welcomed back with open arms to the MasterChef Kitchen in 2012 for All Stars and once more in 2022 for Fans vs Favourites.
She’s the OG queen in our eyes but Julie admitted she was “worried” about competing after all those years out of the industry.
But she’s still got what it takes. Her honest, family food saw her finish fifth in Fans vs Favourites.
Sashi Cheliah
After his Masterchef Australia win in 2018, Sashi Cheliah dabbled in the world of restaurants, opening GAJA Express and GAJA by Sashi in Adelaide.
He has also released his first cookbook, Kampong Boy, full of his signature Singaporean recipes.
Known by his season 10 castmates as the smiling assassin, Sashi was invited back to the MasterChef Kitchen for Foodies vs Favourites.
His first victory saw him score a history-making 93 out of a possible 100 points, so going into 2022, his co-stars were in for a tough ride.
However many fans were surprised that the father-of-two was eliminated early in the season.
Billie McKay
Billie McKay was an absolute machine in season seven. Nothing rattled the budding chef, not even those near-impossible pressure tests, so it’s no wonder she was crowned the winner.
Less than a month after winning, Billie moved to England to fulfil her dream of working at Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin-starred The Fat Duck restaurant.
“Working there was fantastic, but it wasn’t what I wanted long-term,” she said at the time.
In 2022, Billie returned to the MasterChef kitchen to star alongside fellow former winners Julie and Sashi in Fans vs Favourites.
And she WON the title for a second time around.
Adam Liaw
Best known for winning the second season of MasterChef in 2010, Adam Liaw has been a firm favourite ever since.
Before starring on the hit cooking show, the aspiring chef was just your average lawyer with a passion for cooking.
However, after showing his impressive culinary skills to the world, his life changed dramatically.
The 44-year-old now hosts a handful of TV shows, including Destination Flavour, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and Adam & Poh’s Malaysia in Australia which he co-hosts with season one’s Poh.
Alvin Quah
Remembered for his ICONIC glasses and fun-loving attitude, season two’s Alvin Quah brought many smiles to the MasterChef Kitchen.
His passion for Malaysian food really stunned the judges, and who could forget his famous Drunken Chicken dish? Ugh, to die for.
Despite only coming sixth place in the second season, the enthusiastic chef was invited back for Fans vs Favourites where he came sixth AGAIN!
According to his personal website, Alvin has a few exciting projects lined up. Alongside writing a cookbook, he’s also collaborating with a spectacles company to create some funky shades.
Reynold Poernomo
Despite coming fourth place in the show’s seventh season, Reynold Poernomo is one of the most successful chefs to come out of the franchise.
After his elimination in 2016, the 29-year-old opened up KOI Dessert Bar with his brothers, which became a roaring success.
Since then, the Poernomo family have opened up KOI Dessert Kitchen, Monkey’s Corner and TiNi Artisan Bakehouse.
To top it all off, Reynold was also a finalist in Gault & Millau Pastry Chef of the Year awards in 2017 and was listed in Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30.
Callum Hann
Callum Hann was only 20 years old when he came second place in MasterChef‘s second season.
After his first appearance on the show, he worked for judge George Calombaris, before starting his own cooking school, Sprout Cooking.
The chef then won the 2012 spin-off series All-Stars, once again proving his excellent culinary skills. It’s no wonder he’s a fan favourite after all his success on the show!
Emelia Jackson
Of course, the “Dessert Queen” Emelia Jackson deserves a spot on this list.
The cake designer was best remembered for whipping up some of the tastiest desserts we’d ever seen. In fact, we still have dreams about her Lemon Panna Cotta. If only we could recreate it without poisoning ourselves!
After coming third place in the show’s sixth season, Emelia won the Back To Win series in 2020.
Since her time on the show, the mother-of-one has released a cookbook called First, Cream the Butter and Sugar, and she’s also a columnist for goodfood.
Laura Sharrad
Despite only being 18 at the time, Laura Sharrad came second place in the show’s sixth season.
Laura then worked alongside Jock Zonfrillo as a pastry chef at his restaurant Orana, before opening her own restaurant Nido Bar and Pasta in 2019.
The restaurant owner was also the runner-up on MasterChef Australia: Back to Win.
Poh Ling-Yeow
Now, we couldn’t finish this list without mentioning one of our all-time faves, Poh.
Only a few short weeks after coming second place in season one, the Malaysian-born chef was offered her own cooking show Poh’s Kitchen, which ran for a few seasons. But that wasn’t the end of her TV career. Since then, she’s also hosted a batch of cooking shows, including Poh & Co, Poh & Co Bitesized and Snackmasters.
In 2020, Poh featured on MasterChef: Back to Win, where she came in sixth place, and she’s also returned to the show as a mentor and a guest judge.
We’re sure Poh has a place in every MasterChef fan’s heart, as she truly is one of the most iconic contestants to date.
Want even more goss? Listen to the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
